Chapter 18

She came to the awareness of Hipper purring loudly against her neck and someone patting her shoulder.

"Open your eyes if you can," she heard and did so.

She saw Robert, the medic, and a lieutenant looking down at her intently. She wished she was still asleep when she felt the pain from her face.

"You have a concussion, you can't go to sleep," the lieutenant stated.

"M'lady, please stay awake," Robert urged.

"M-kay," she said.

"Now that you're awake, I can apply the quick heal," the lieutenant said.

After the quick heal, she was observed for an additional 20 minutes and then given convalescent leave for the rest of the week.

"Quick heal is an amazing treatment, but head injuries are nothing to play around with," the lieutenant said.

She returned to her shop and transmitted her convalescent leave chit to Lt. MacLeod.

"Spacer Rodman is in the base brig," he said of the spacer who hit her with the door. "We're not going to get much work done here, anyway. We have to clear out of the building while the criminal investigators search the place. Apparently, the spacer you discovered this morning is part of an Exhaust ring on base."

Like Sphinx Green or Stardust, Grayson's problem of illicit and dangerous drug use had a couple of names, depending on the mix: Exhaust, Blue Tea, or Sparkle. When they caught whoever was manufacturing and dealing, they would be facing a long prison term. Grayson prisons were literally bread and water and hard labor prisons. For a planet of three billion people, they had a remarkably low crime rate; the criminal justice system wasn't perfect, but the prospect of prison was a good deterrent.

"Get better, see you next week," the lieutenant said.

#

On the drive back home, she called Matt, but his uni-link went to messaging. Must be a busy day in the ER. At home, she changed into something comfortable and sat in the living room to watch a replay of the previous night's baseball game on the HD viewer. Honor came home with the kids after their day at pre-school and saw her on the couch. Raoul pointed to Rachel's face.

"You hurt?" he asked.

"Raoul, it's not polite to point or stare," Honor pointed out, "but asking is okay, like this…what happened?"

Rachel told her what had happened that day.

"…and if I experience any dizziness, slurred speech, or my headache gets worse, I'm to go to a hospital right away."

"How do you feel now?" Honor asked.

"The headache is getting better, and the nose should fully healed tomorrow. Because of the concussion, I was ordered to take it easy the rest of the week," Rachel replied.

After lunch, Matt rang her. Her uni-link was in her satchel upstairs, so he didn't hear it ring. Robert's uni-link chimed and he answered it.

"Afternoon, Robert. I missed Rachel at lunch today. Did she eat at her shop?"

"She's currently at home. There was an incident today. She was injured and was told to rest."

"Can you put her on?"

He heard a baseball announcer on the HD viewer and Robert gave her the uni-link.

"Hi! I called earlier but you were busy," she said.

"Why are you at home?"

"Concussion and fractured nose."

"How did that happen?"

"When I returned to my shop after the ER, I was reaching for the shop doors just as they flung open. I had no time to stop it, it happened that fast. As it turns out, a spacer was fleeing the shop."

Matt sighed. "It's because of the Exhaust mess, isn't it. There've been incidents all over the base today."

"Anyway, I kind of drifted off after they triaged me. They woke me, treated me, and I'm on convalescent leave the rest of the week."

"There's someone there with you, right?"

"Aunt Honor is here; we're watching the replay of last night's Mayhew and Surtees game."

"I'll be there this evening. Take it easy, okay? I love you."

"I love you too, see you then."

The call ended and she returned Rob's uni-link. Raoul came to her with his match game, so she cleared away the coffee table for a game and they laid out the cards.

#

That evening, Matt arrived and took a good look at her face.

"Why does this stuff keep happening to you?" he asked.

"What are the odds that I would on the other side of the door just as someone flung it open? Things happen to us because of someone else's, or our own action or inaction, that's it. In this case, it was Spacer Rodman's action."

"You sound so much like your dad," he said.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she returned. "Has the family of Spacer Green been notified?"

Matt nodded. "The Navy has arranged for him to be taken back to Howell Steading tomorrow."

"Would he have lived had I had gotten there sooner?" she asked.

He took her hands in his. "No, don't start that! You did what you could and he didn't die alone, with his own lungs drowning him!"

Matt took a deep breath and spoke. "The seizure you found him in was his brain shutting down. His stomach lining was damaged, his liver and kidneys were shutting down, and we had to drain his lungs. There was nothing we could do to save him; the damage was just too great. Exhaust is so dangerous; you can be addicted after just the first dose. He had been taking that crap for a while. Even if he had lived, he would have been on life support however long he hung on."

After a soothing bath, she went to bed, exhausted. He lay next to her and chatted nonsense until she drifted off. He took his med scanner from his bag and ran a scan over her sleeping form. Good heart rate, good pulse, no sign of abnormal brain waves, and Hipper was sensing nothing wrong. Her watched her pretty face, relaxed in sleep, and drifted off to the sound of her soft snores.

September 19, 1925 P.D.

The Goodson family arrived that morning at Harrington Steading, ostensibly for a tour of the city. The family had never seen Harrington Steading, and the chance to meet "Aunt Honor" was an opportunity they didn't want to pass up. Benjamin and his wives made an appearance as well; Benjmain claimed that he merely stopped off on his way to Alvarez Field for a meet and greet with a new admiral. They all got into cars and drove down First Boulevard. Rachel wanted to treat the Goodsons to lunch at Dempseys, but they slowed at a manor home a half kilometer from Harrington House.

She hit the comm for her dad's car. "Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wanted to see a home," he said.

"Which one?" Rachel asked.

Ben got out of his car and pointed to a manor home situated 300 yards from the corner of First Boulevard and McKeon Avenue. Everyone else got out of their cars and gathered on the sidewalk.

"Looking for another investment?" Rachel asked.

"What do you think of it?" Katherine asked.

"It's a nice home, although I never see anyone here when I drive by," she said.

"The people who built it changed their minds about living here. I bought it from them," Honor stated.

"And I bought it from Honor," Ben said. "I thought it was about time to what I bought."

Good thing I reserved that table, Rachel thought and glanced at her chrono.

#

When the three-car convoy pulled in front of the home, they all exited their cars and stood on the wide portico that led to the front door.

"What was that entry code?" Ben asked Honor.

She bent over and murmured it in his ear. He nodded and unlocked the door. They walked inside and Rachel sneezed and winced, as her nose was still tender.

"Bless you," Ben said.

"I should have had this cleaned," Honor fussed.

After the foyer, everyone drifted through different parts of the home.

"There's a breakfast nook off the kitchen," Rachel called out and everyone joined her.

"When I have my own home, I want something like this," Rachel said. "The ground floor is cleverly designed."

"Three of the bedrooms have their own office nook," Matt reported, "and the master bath is so big you can play baseball in it."

Rachel walked upstairs to see and whistled when she saw the bathroom. "This entire place is something I would look for in a home."

Ben glanced at his wives and the Goodson parents and grinned.

"I'm glad you feel that way, because it's yours if you want it," Ben stated.

"What?!" both Rachel and Matt chorused.

Ben stood before the couple and placed his hands on their shoulders. "You're getting married and starting your own family. I want you to have this, as a wedding gift. Please let me do this for you."

He wiped a tear that fell down Rachel's cheek. She looked to Matt and took his hand. Matt looked to his parents and they nodded in approval. This wasn't just a very wealthy man who bought up a piece of property to show off. This was a loving father wanting to see his daughter starting out in the best way possible, to start her new life and family in a home of her own.

Rachel had savings and made a decent salary, but she knew that she had nowhere near the amount to buy the place. It was a new home on the newest steading. Those always sold at a premium.

"There are plenty of rooms for when the kids come along," Rachel said and hugged her dad.

Matt held out his hand to shake Ben's, but he pulled the younger man closer for a hug.

Lunch at Dempsey's

"…and you'll need to find someone like Grace to help manage the home," Katherine advised at lunch.

Rachel and Matt were quiet, still stunned at the gift they received.

"I'll send both of you the deed transfer, if that's all right? Monday?" Ben asked. "However, the property taxes will be on you, thank Tester."

"Yes dad," Rachel chuckled and thanked the server when she placed the plate of fried rice before her. Her dad could probably pay the property tax with his pocket change; but no one, no matter their wealth or lack of it liked the convoluted taxation system.

"Don't you, as the steadholder, set property taxes?" Katherine teased Honor.

"Harrington Steading property taxes are the lowest on the planet," Honor retorted in her own defense.

"They are?" Stephen asked.

"And we have the lowest income tax rate, and no title tax on cars or homes," Honor finished. "So there."

"And that's why there's so car dealerships here," Elaine stated.

"I will neither confirm or deny that," Honor said lightly and table laughed.

#

After lunch, Ben announced that he was returning home.

"I thought you were gong to Alvarez Field?" Rachel asked.

"I fibbed," Ben shrugged. "I promised the boys I would take them to the game tonight."

"Seeing your faces when you were given that home was priceless. We wanted to be here for that," Stephen said.

"We rarely get away, so we decided to make a weekend of it," Ruth said. "We'll find a nice hotel for the night and head back tomorrow."

"You don't have to do that, my home is open to you," Honor offered.

"Only if it's not an imposition," Stephen replied.

"Not at all," Honor said and got on her uni-link to let the housekeeper know they would have guests for the night.

#

In her room on her comm console, Rachel talked to Matt, back at his dorm. There was no need to advertise that they practically cohabitated before marriage, especially with the Goodsons there. He gazed at her brushing her hair as they spoke.

"We can stop looking at dinky apartments now," Rachel chuckled.

"How much are the property taxes?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, but we'll find out," she replied.

"And there's furnishing the place," he added.

She shrugged. "I'm getting an inheritance from my grandmother's estate when I marry, we can use that."

She saw the look on his face and set the brush down.

"Keep brushing?" he requested, and she did so, indulging his hair fetish.

"I know how you feel about it, but the inheritance is exactly for something like this," she said, "and only female Mayhews receive it, in the event they don't marry-"

"Into a wealthy family," he finished and sighed. "I really need to get over this. You are who you are. You're not a spoiled princess, and you have a good family…they just happen to be Mayhew."

She set down her brush, folded her arms on the desk, and leaned into the viewer.

"In 43 days, you're going to be a part of that family, just as I'm going to be a part of the Goodson family. What's mine is yours, as the saying goes. I'm taking your name, in front of the Tester, our families, and our friends. Goodson is going to be on my uniform. I'll be signing my name Rachel Goodson. Our kids will be Goodsons," she said and winked when she saw the heated look in his eyes.

"You turn me on enough with that hair of yours; you just had to go and say that," he stated.

#